Coffin



model.

H. SANDER. GOFFIN.

No. 244,317. Patentd July 12, 1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY SANDER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

COFFIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,317, dated July 12, 1881. Application filed January 17, 1881. (Model) T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY SANDER, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Goffins, of which the following is a specification; and I do hereby'declare that in the same is contained a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon. I

This invention relates to improved means for preventing what is termed the resurrection of bodiesthat is to say, the unauthorized removal of corpses from coffins after burial; and the invention, briefly stated, consists-in providing the interior of the coffin with a series of transverse bars, which pass entirely around and underneath the corpse and are tied together below the lid and locked.

These transverse bars are united by longitudinal straps, and form, with them, a barred or grated envelope, which will sustain the body in case the wood-work of the coffin is removed.

In the further description of my said invention which follows, reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and in which Figure I is a longitudinal section of the improved coffin or casket. Fig. II is a cross-section of the invention. Fig. III is a plan of the invention with the upper portion of the woodwork removed. Fig. IV is a view of certain parts of the invention on an enlarged scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the views.

A is the coffin or casket proper, and B the removable top or lid of the same. 0 O are shutters, one of which may be removed inde pendently of the lid B.

D D and E E are respectively longitudinal straps and transverse bars extending across the bottom of the casket and up the sides of the same, to which they are fastened in any appropriate manner. The ends of the bars E are perforated-and secured to plates F, which have suitable eyes, and are fastened underneath the coffin-lid or the shutters by means of bolts a. One or more of the bolts a, when in place, are locked by means of screws b, which enter into the said bolts from the exterior of the casket, as shown. A second screw, 0, may be used to lock the first if additional security is required.

It will be seen that the straps and bars D and E, together with the plates F and the connecting-bolts, form a grated envelope, from which the corpse cannot be removed if the wooden lid is entirely destroyed.

The arrangement of the bars and straps will necessarily have to be altered to suit different kinds of coffins and caskets; but such a1- teration in detail will not affect the nature of my invention.

I am aware that it is not new to bind the several parts of a coffin together by means of metallic straps and angle-plates, and screws to pass through the lid into the metallic straps also, that coffins have been provided with antomatically-clasping devices for holding the lid to the body part."

Iarn also aware that coffins have been fitted with a false bottom, to which the body or corpse is secured by means of straps, the said false bottom being fastened to the bottom proper in order to prevent removal; but I am not aware that prior to my invention a coffin has had secured to its inner surface a series of transverse bars connected underneath the lid by removable bolts and fastened with looking devices. the said transverse bars being connected by longitudinal straps to form a grated or barred envelope to sustain the corpse and prevent its withdrawal after the destruction of the woodwork or outer covering.

I therefore claim as my invention- In combination with the cofiin or casket proper, A, and lid B, the transverse bars E, plates F, bolts a, and screws 11, substantially as herein specified.

H. SANDER.

Witnesses WM. F. HOWARD, GEO. D. BRooKs. 

